-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Here 's the reality of the situation : A diplomatic solution to Syria 's use of chemical weapons will include `` boots on the ground . '' The threat of a military solution will not .

It should come as no surprise that anything other than doing nothing in Syria will be costly and threatens the deployment of soldiers to Syria to ensure compliance . But why does diplomacy seem so enticing ?

Let 's assume Bashar al-Assad agrees to surrender his chemical stockpiles to an international body for control or destruction . What next ?

Minimally , there has to be a cease-fire in Syria 's civil war . There can be no inspection regime until all parties involved in the fighting in Syria agree to stop fighting and to an intrusive cease-fire verification regime .

Having led the initial weapons of mass destruction hunt in Iraq in 2003 , I can tell you that there is no possibility that inspectors should volunteer to race into harm 's way to inspect a possible chemical site without a phalanx of soldiers protecting them .

Is a cease-fire likely ? No side is incentivized to stop fighting . The minority Alawites are running Syria as well as for their lives .

Iran has stoked this war by proxy ; it has no interest in a cessation of hostilities . Hezbollah is guided and funded by Iran so it wo n't stop the killing . Russia has supported al-Assad and his family for decades . It is unlikely that Russia will cut off its aid , especially in light of President Vladimir Putin 's lecture to America in the form of an op-ed in Thursday 's New York Times .

As a starting point , Syria has to declare what chemical weapons it has and where they 're located before any inspectors secured by soldiers step onto Syrian soil .

Al-Assad will surrender that data on his chemical stockpiles , but it may well be wrong , full of intentional inaccuracies . Every vault behind every door within every site must be verified .

The amount of time to accomplish that task will be years . Let 's not forget , a cease-fire must remain in place and be resilient enough to withstand the inevitable score-settling of this bloody civil war . The killing will continue . Only the bravest of the brave inspectors will agree to this mission .

Will the chemical weapons , or the other possible weapons of mass destruction that inspectors discover , be destroyed in place , or will they be taken out of country for destruction or safeguarding ?

The answer seems quite simple -- destroy them in place . The logistics just to arrive at the point of finding the munitions are staggering . To upload arguably unstable munitions from multiple disparate locations throughout Syria and transport them along poorly maintained roads to locations within Syria to be secured or destroyed in a nonpermissive environment when hostilities are likely to flare up any time is a monumental task . Let 's hope decisions about `` rendering safe '' are made by weapons experts , not suits .

Finally , every party involved in Syria 's civil war wants al-Assad 's chemical stockpile . Chemical weapons are strategic leverage . Hezbollah and al Qaeda insurgents are already deciding how to threaten their regional enemies and each other with the use of chemicals .

Diplomacy is hard . Be careful what you ask for .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author .

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Military analyst says people should not underestimate the demands of a diplomatic solution

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He says inspecting , destroying Syria 's chemical weapons would require `` boots on the ground ''

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Inserting troops and inspectors into the middle of a raging civil war is a daunting task , he says